by Matt Greer. Follow the blog on Twitter @talking_tardis

The Music in Doctor Who

Looking back on my recent post where I compared the classic and modern eras, it was unfair of me not to mention how much the music on the show has helped it kick on. The soundtrack of the classic series is never something I would chose to listen to on its own. It’s very generic, over the top at times and didn’t do much to improve the entertainment on offer. Towards the end of the classic era, the music even hindered the show. Some of the snippets in the Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy eras were laughable and took the tension out of the scene.

On the contrary though, some of the stuff that Murray Gold has composed for the modern era has been simply stunning. I could sit and listen to soundtracks of each series all day long. Take “Vale Decem” for example, the beautiful piece composed for David Tennant’s regeneration sequence. That is probably the finest piece of music in the show’s history in my opinion. It added so much emotion and drama to the scene. Try and picture the tenth Doctor sadly gaze at his slowly regenerating hand, mutter “I don’t want to go” and then burst full on into changing his body. Now imagine that scene with a piece of music from the classic era played over it. It just wouldn’t work.

What Murray Gold has done for the show can’t be put into words. He makes the acting and writing all come together as his music is the final piece of a perfect puzzle to create the end product that we all love. His piece for Rose Tyler’s farewell on Bad Wolf Bay (despite not liking the context of the scene) was perfect. He’s also written some brilliant and thrilling songs for themes of each Doctor. The eleventh Doctor’s “I am the Doctor” theme was particularly catchy and added an extra few ounces of intesnty to dramatic scenes. Donna Noble’s theme also suited her right down to the ground. It was fun, quirky and bouncy, just like her and it made her comic scenes even more funny. I was at the Doctor Who symphonic spectacular show last year and each song was perfect. I can’t recall a poor piece of music that Gold has composed for the show and he really deserves so much credit for providing such a vital cog in the superb Doctor Who machine.